PROBATE TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

What is Probate?
Probate is the procedure whereby a Will is admitted to record in the Clerks Office, or the process of qualifying a person as Executor or Administrator of an estate, or the entire process of administering an estate.

What is the process to Probate?
To probate an estate in West Virginia, you must go to the County Clerk’s Probate Office located in the County where decedent resided at the time of death. 

Why Probate?
It is necessary to probate an estate when the decedent has solely-held assets; that is, assets that do not have a joint or co-owner with rights of survivorship, a beneficiary (on the security or account, not in the Will), or a pay on death designee. Assets include: real property, personal property, bank accounts, stocks and bonds, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other types of securities.   

Administrator C.T.A. ("Cum Testamento Annexo" or "with the will annexed")
an administrator of the estate (other than the named executor in a will) who serves when all named executors are unable to serve due to death, incapacity or renunciation of their right to serve 

Beneficiary
a person or organization entitled to receive a portion of the estate

Bond  
a written document in which the obligor formally recognizes an obligation to pay money in the event the obligor does not properly perform his or her duties 

Certificate of Qualification 
the form that the personal representative receives from the clerk at the time of qualification (It states that a person has qualified as executor or administrator and has authority to act on behalf of the estate.  It is sometimes referred to as "Letters Testamentary".)

Certified Copy  
a copy of a document or record signed and certified as a true copy by the officer to whose custody the original is entrusted 

Codicil  
a supplement or an addition to a will (It may explain, modify, add to, subtract from, qualify, alter, restrain, or revoke provisions in an existing will.)

Commissioner of Accounts
a person(s) appointed by the Court to monitor the reports and activities of personal representatives 

Creditor 
a person or organization owed money by the decedent 

Decedent 
the deceased person 

Estate 
the decedent's property, including real estate, personal property and all other assets owned or controlled by decedent at the time of his/her death

Executor 
the person named in decedent's will to administer the estate (To accept the appointment, the executor must qualify before the clerk.)

Fiduciary 
a person in a position of trust with respect to another's property; a general term used to refer to executor, administrator or trustee

Heirs at Law 
a person(s) who would inherit the decedent's estate if the decedent died without a will

Holographic Will
a will written entirely by the testator with his own hand and not witnessed (attested) 

Intestate Estate 
an estate to be administered without a will 

Inventory 
a detailed list of articles; a list or schedule of property containing designation or description of such specific article 

Personal Representative 
either the executor or the administrator of the estate

Probate
the procedure whereby a will is admitted to record in the clerk's office (Also, it is used to include the process of qualifying a person as an executor or administrator of an estate. It sometimes is referred to as the entire process of administering an estate.) 

Qualification 
the procedure whereby a person is appointed by the clerk to serve as executor or administrator of a decedent's estate 

Self-Proved Will 
a will that includes a notarized affidavit of the testator and attesting witnesses (See Virginia Code  §64.1-87.1 & Virginia Code §64.1-87.2, as amended, for specific language.)

Testator
one who dies leaving a will

Testate Estate
an estate to be administered pursuant to a will